1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to multipoint control protocols and, more particularly, to an Ethernet passive optical network over coaxial (EPOC) system rate mechanism.
2. Introduction
In a point-to-multipoint system such as an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON), a single optical line terminal (OLT) at a head end can be designed to communicate with a plurality of optical network units (ONUs) at various end nodes. This arrangement leverages a shared fiber optic plant by multiple networking nodes. Typically, the OLT broadcasts its transmissions in the downstream direction to all of the ONUs. Each of the ONUs, on the other hand, transmit in the upstream direction to the OLT in a pre-assigned time slot.